Plans Develop for a Latin American Biblical Commentary

The success of the Africa Bible Commentary has stimulated plans to create similar single-volume commentaries by local scholars for other Majority World regions. Similar projects are already in process for Asia and the Middle East. This year, discussion was underway in Buenos Aires for development of the Contemporary Biblical Commentary (In Spanish: Comentário Bíblico Contemporâneo). The project is a collaboration of Langham Partnership International (LPI) with Serving in Mission (SIM), in conjunction with a key group of Latin American theologians and scholars, from both the Spanish and Portuguese areas of the continent, to produce a volume written for the Latin American context by people who take the Bible seriously and who see the world with Latin American eyes is much needed as keystone resource for the bookshelf of the Latin American pastor.

Several Latin American leaders have expressed that a single-volume commentary is a project they have been hoping for. The discussion is at its infancy stages, and questions of expense, project management, distribution, and process details are continuing.

Among those who attended the discussion were LPI Literature Director Pieter Kwant, Langham Scholar Milton Acosta, Langham Partnership Regional Council member Rene Padilla, and LPI Committee Chair Mark Hunt. Also attending was Rosalee Velloso (South American Theological Seminary, Brazil), a key editor for the project and Ian Darke of Letra Viva, who will coordinate the project.

LPI will consider sponsoring as much as half the funds needed and helping with administrative needs. The project will take shape this summer as more details and editorial assignments will be set in motion in June.